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BP Gulf of Mexico spill: $4 billion fine and two indicted

TONY EASTLEY: Two years after the biggest environmental disaster in the United States, BP is paying the largest criminal penalty in American history for the devastating Gulf of Mexico oil spill.

The oil giant is paying a $4 billion fine and two of its employees have also been indicted on manslaughter charges.

Correspondent Kim Landers is in Washington.

Kim Landers, good morning. Tell us more about this deal that's been struck between BP and US authorities.

KIM LANDERS: Well Tony, two and a half years ago when there was that explosion on the BP Deepwater Horizon rig which killed 11 workers and sent millions of barrels of oil spewing into the sea, not only was there a massive operation to try to stop that spill but it also sparked a massive legal action here in the United States.

And finally BP and the US government have reached a settlement. BP has agreed to pay a $4 billion fine. It's the biggest fine in American history. And they've also agreed to plead guilty to a series of charges. The US attorney-general Eric Holder outlined that a short time ago.

ERIC HOLDER: BP has agreed to plead guilty to all 14 criminal charges, including responsibility for the deaths of 11 people and the events that led to an unprecedented environmental catastrophe. The company has also agreed to pay $4 billion in fines and in penalties.

TONY EASTLEY: The US attorney-general Eric Holder speaking there. Kim Landers, apart from the fine is anyone else in BP being held accountable for what happened?

KIM LANDERS: So not only is this the biggest criminal fine in US history and BP has agreed to plead guilty to the manslaughter of 11 workers. Two BP employees themselves have also been indicted on manslaughter charges. Now these are two men who were the highest ranking supervisors on the oil rig on the day of the explosion.

It's alleged that they acted negligently in supervising key safety tests and that they failed to prevent this blowout. They've each been charged with 11 counts of manslaughter, 11 counts of involuntary manslaughter.

And that's not the end to the legal action. A BP executive, the man David Rainey who was BP's vice-president of exploration for the Gulf of Mexico, has also been charged. He's been charged with obstructing congress in giving false statements.

It's alleged that he intentionally under-estimated the amount of oil that was coming from this leak, that he cherry-picked from documents, that he withheld other documents, that he made it appear that this spill was less catastrophic than it was and he hid information from congress. He too has been charged.

TONY EASTLEY: So do these charges and fines now draw a line under this dreadful incident?

KIM LANDERS: It doesn't draw a line under the legal cases, that's for sure. The US government is still pursuing civil penalties against BP and they too could run into the billions of dollars.

BP had reached an agreement to settle claims from fishermen and other business people who were affected by this disaster. That claim was for about $8 billion. That's waiting approval from a judge as well. And there are countless other civil penalties that may be applied so there is still a long way to go for this for BP and they could be on the hook in legal action certainly in the United States for years to come.

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